The current aim in education today is to get everyone to university. More and more degrees are being created which are totally useless. Everyone is being taught that they are too good to get their hands dirty, and expect something for nothing.
What we need to do is build up industry again to provide work. Everybody is good at something and should be encouraged to do what they can. Manual work, in whatever aspect or situation, should not be frowned on by educational bodies. Academia does not suit everyone. If the manufacturing sector was brought home, the prospect for jobs would be huge. Why are countries like USA and Germany thriving? They have a massive industrial sector, providing jobs and limiting the need to import products. Yes, initially our labour costs would be higher but, over a period of time, the Westernisation of the Far East will see their costs rise too…..and where will we be then?
Brexit has given us the chance to make a go of industry again, and we should grasp it with both hands. All our children need a working future, to use whatever skills they have to produce stuff, make them feel valued by society and proud of themselves, and earn a useful living. This would help to galvanise society together again, bring back respect for others and narrow the divide between the haves and have nots. To use the words of an ex President, ‘let’s make our country great again’!
One of the flaws in education is government interference. (not just education either!). They are continually changing things, reducing options for children, giving parents unsustainable ambitions for their children, and taking power away from the hard pressed teaching staff. Most in government have never actually worked outside of politics, the same applies to most civil servants who are supposably experts on their subjects. Their policies are helping to reduce the options for some, and with a country so heavily dependent on a service economy, many are falling by the wayside. Nothing to aspire to. This is where a resurgence in manufacturing would help, jobs of all types would be created, and many young people would be given a chance to excel at something that at the moment just isn’t there.
There are, of course, huge hurdles to climb. How do we convince children, after all these years, that manual and ‘dirty’ work is a career. It used to be, start at the bottom and work your way up. The opportunities for that are few at the moment…and children know it. Education needs to provide training for work in manufacturing of all types, in agriculture, building, transport, healthcare to name but a few. But this can only happen if the jobs are there and are shown to be interesting and varied and worthwhile financially doing.
Social media needs tackling in schools, but really should be a job for parents. Again a fault of education gurus, pushing more and more on teachers. Let’s face it, teachers teach, they are not meant to be surrogate parents. We need to wean children off it,so much is damaging them. Face to face communication is being destroyed, cyber bullying and criticism is killing confidence in many. Jealousy and boasting creates divisions.
Of course, Coronavirus has had a massive effect on education over the last 12 months and still ongoing. Technology is doing ok keeping teaching going, but it’s not ideal. And many are struggling to progress and will be left behind. Hopefully the vaccines will stamp it out in time. Then a serious amount of catching up will be necessary. We will need not just academic teaching, but life skills education. It is going to be a problem, and will need massive investment to sort it out.
The future is daunting, but perhaps this is a chance to get changes done. Bring in people from all industries to advise on the way to go forward. Job creation in all sectors is needed to give all children the chance to make a successful career. Motivation is so important and we must all work to hard to make this happen.
Lots to do and change…difficult times and the cost of the epidemic is going to limit resources. But changes must happen and then we’ll all have a brighter future.
914-11